Open Your Eyes
by wishes on a broken stereo
Summary: Noah and Cody have been friends since pretty much the beginning of Total Drama. However, one of them is too oblivious to see that there could be something more to their friendship than meets the eye. Oneshot.


"Noah, do you think Gwen likes flowers? I was thinking of picking some and giving 'em to her later."

"Cody, with your luck, she can't get enough of the things. Might want to make sure they're black and wilted, though."

Now, you might be wondering how Noah and Cody, the very same boys that have been caught in compromising positions more than once on international television, have put aside the past and become close friends.

In short, their bond bloomed from the bookworm prying Sierra (who had reverted to her stalker-ish, fangirl-y ways that everyone had come to know and resent) off of Cody's back when it was finally time to return home. I, as the authoress, mean this quite literally, since the violet-haired girl had clung to her much shorter "hubby" without signs of letting go anytime soon, and Cody still had the indentions of her fingernails tattooed into his skin to prove it. Noah had somehow talked a bit of sense into her, at least enough to keep her at bay until they met again. This led Cody to believe the fact that Noah could actually be tolerated and form a friendship with said nerd.

The two boys had later discovered that they lived a mere hour away from each other; this led to countless weekends of endless hours of gaming at one of their houses or trips to the closest Starbucks to indulge in the sweet, overpriced rush of caffeine.

Today was an example of the latter, and the conversation was wandering into territory Noah would much rather leave untouched in the dark corners of rarely-used brain, gathering dust and cobwebs. It wasn't that Noah didn't like Gwen. Oh, no, he actually respected the Goth for putting Heather in her place during the first season. He just felt that Cody could do much better than a girl who would be running from cops in five years with the Greenpeace guys, trying to save whales or whatever endangered animal was being used as a food source these days.

Cody sipped at his caramel frappuchino with a roll of his turquoise eyes. "Aw, don't be like that, Noah; Gwen's much nicer than Courtney made her out to be."

"It's not that I don't think she's horrible; if I did, it wouldn't be anything special, since I find many people horrible. I just think she's a bit too… dark for you, not to mention too taken," the tan male retorted, the steam of his mocha latte escaping the hole in the lid of its cup.

"Duncan fully stole her from me, y'know. That jerk." The brunet folded his arms across his chest, his expression resembling something of a child who believed he was always right. He would have pulled the look off quite well if it wasn't for the dollop of whipped cream on his upper lip.

Noah noticed this with a silent chuckle and debated whether he should tell Cody or let him go out in public like that.

_Or you could always just kiss it off_, a little voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Izzy told him. He ignored the possibility of schizophrenia, one of a few he'd gotten since he and Cody had been meeting up outside of that horrid reality show.

It isn't much of a shock to figure out , unless one has been living under a rock since the beginning of said reality show, that there is a disturbance in the force; one of the homosexual variety. That's right, our favorite antisocial snarker is gay, and it seemed that he was being urged by his subconscious to follow his heart and confess to his infatuation with who else but the adorable boy sitting right in front of him. Life seemed to get a sick kick out of giving the genius reasons to hate life, as if he didn't hate it already.

However, Noah was too smart to give in to his desires. He knew perfectly well what would happen if he told Cody: the geek would distance himself until he no longer associated with the bookworm, resulting in the latter going back to playing Kosmic Kaos in his bedroom on weekends.

Meanwhile, outside of the whirring gears that made up Noah's mind, coffee-bean brown eyes rolled without hesitation. "Can't take what was never yours, honey."

Cody scoffed. Ever the persistent one, he poked at the topic like one would poke at a dead man with a stick. "She _almost _was at one point, remember?"

"In your dreams, Cody; only in your dreams. Why can't you open your eyes and look around. Gwen was perfectly happy with Trent, and now she's perfectly happy with Duncan. I'm sure there's someone out there that actually likes you."

A trace of bitterness came out with the words that wasn't allowed outside of his thoughts, and especially in this discussion. Cody would think something was up, and with the geek being almost as smart as Noah, he would get pretty close to the truth, much too close for comfort.

"You mean Sierra, don't you? I'm sorry, but your matchmaking efforts won't help me; I'm into Gwen and Gwen alone."

Scratch that last statement. Cody could be downright oblivious sometimes, and he chose that moment to do so, much to Noah's chagrin. A groan escaped his lips as he replied, "No, Cody, not Sierra…" He sounded exasperated; resigned, even.

"Then who? I mean, the only other girl that's ever been slightly attracted to me is Beth, and…" he trailed off, and his shudder pretty much finished his statement.

Noah couldn't even bring himself to roll his eyes as he reached over the table to grasp the other boy's shoulders, taking the courage to look intensely into his eyes. "Open. Your. Eyes." He stressed each word enough to make his point obvious.

Confusion. Searching. Realization. Shock. Discomfort. One by one, each found its way to Cody's robin's egg- blue eyes. It was all Noah needed to see to know that he had just lost the only best friend he'd had in years.

"Oh…" Cody mumbled, avoiding the nerd's dark chocolate gaze. A flush of color adorned his cheeks; of what emotion was unknown.

Noah released his grip and picked up his cup, turning to leave with the slightest hints of hot tears filling his eyes and blurring his vision.

_Why the fuck did I even do that I knew what was going to happen but I did it anyway and Cody doesn't even like guys anyway why the fuck would he even like me I'm just an asshole and—_

"Wait!" the shorter boy called, following Noah outside and finding him slumped on the sidewalk, drinking his lukewarm latte in the freezing Montreal winter. The brunet took a seat beside him and received a heated glare from the boy beside him.

"Look, we both know you don't swing my way. We both know you're not into me. We both know I'm insane for thinking it. Just get out of here, okay? I'll go back to being the cold, heartless jerk you knew when I first met you and get out of your life." His voice wavered just a bit on his last word, which he took as his cue to sip at his coffee and turn to watch the people rushing to get home and out of the weather.

"How would I be able to do that to my best friend? I mean, sure, it's a bit weird for me to know that you like me, but it's not because I'm freaked out by _you._ I've never had another guy like me before, y'know?" Cody replied, his voice a stark contrast to the harshness of the Indian boy's.

Noah looked from his feet to Cody, his eyes a tad red and puffy. "You're not just trying to humor me, are you?" he asked cautiously.

"Not at all; scout's honor. I just feel like I kind of knew this was coming, but I didn't know how to react when it actually happened."

"Nice to know you even think of me at all," Noah responded with a soft, half-hearted chuckle. "Maybe I have a chance after all."

"Maybe you do. You do know that I'm bisexual, don't you?" Cody asked casually, as if it was the easiest thing in the world to say, as easy as saying hello.

_MIND BLOWN. _"Wait, you're bisexual, and you didn't even tell me?" Noah replied incredulously. He definitely would have remembered his best friend telling him something so important.

"Well, like I said, I've never had a guy like me, or even many girls, but yes. I thought I told you!"

"I think I might have, at least mentally, jumped for joy if you did. Now I have one thing to ask, and before you get all weird on me, it is _not _about Johnny Depp."

Cody flushed with embarrassment, but this time, a nervous grin complete with the appearance of the gap in his teeth accompanied it. "Okay, shoot."

"Can you _please _get that whipped cream off your lip? It's been there forever, and the longer I see it, the more I'm convinced you look like a premature Santa Claus," the bookworm replied with a smirk, his mood returning to something resembling contentment.

The tech-geek cocked his head to the side, eyebrows furrowed in confusion, then wiped a bit of the creamy confection with a finger. "My bad, dude; must be from the coffee, and I never noticed. Got a napkin on you?"

"I think I have something better than a napkin," Noah replied after a moment, taking Cody's hand and leaning in. He hesitated a moment, their lips centimeters from each other's, before closing the distance. The kiss was soft, as if Noah couldn't gauge the reaction of the boy in front of him.

Cody showed no signs that he wasn't into the kiss; no pushing away, no spouting swears of indignation. He merely gasped in surprise and remained still for a few moments, shocked, before kissing back. His lips were the perfect combination of soft and chapped and tasted of caramel and coffee and something that the brown-eyed boy couldn't place.

The bookworm felt his heart racing quickly as the kisses became more sure, more comfortable. The sounds of lips connecting, parting, reconnecting were the only ones being traded between the two. Tongues explored hesitantly, as If it were the first time they'd ever done this, and hands found their homes in the curves of the boy's necks and backs. The kiss was over way sooner than was expected, but when the boys parted, Cody's lip was cream-free.

"Th… thanks," the shorter teen stuttered, cheeks blazing bright pink.

"Completely my pleasure," Noah replied with a smile, not one his condescending smirks, but a genuine smile. His own face was inconspicuously flushed as he inwardly thanked his dark skin. "So how much of a chance do you think I have now?"

"All depends on how often that's going to happen…" Cody replied with a grin. "And Noah?"

"Hm?" he replied with a raised eyebrow, his lips tingling pleasantly.

"Thank you for opening my eyes."

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, guys, I'm finally back in business. I have my very own laptop to keep my fanfics updated on. I'll try my best to update as often as I can, but with school only nine weeks from being over, I may have to wait until summer to, y'know, be able to update regularly. Regardless, I'm excited to be able to show you all what I write more often! This was based off of a song (Open Your Eyes by LMNT) but I wrote it long before <em>PioSaR <em>was even a concept, and it's a bit too long to consider a ficlet. So here you guys go; a oneshot for your homosexual fix! I've missed writing these guys a lot, and typing this up reminded me of how much this pairing has actually brought me.**

**I hope you enjoyed, and keep your eyes open for anything else! Meanwhile, you guys can find me on Tumblr! (six-f33t-under-the-stars(dot)tumblr(dot)com.) I love you all! :)**


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